The Natal shyshark, eastern shyshark or happy chappie (''Haploblepharus kistnasamyi'') is a species of catshark, belonging to the family Scyliorhinidae. It was once regarded as the "Natal" form of the

puffadder shyshark The puffadder shyshark (''Haploblepharus edwardsii''), also known as the Happy Eddie, is a species of catshark, belonging to the family Scyliorhinidae, endemic to the temperate waters off the coast of South Africa. This common shark is found on ...

(''H. edwardsii''). This shark is endemic to a small area off South Africa from the Western Cape to

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

. It is found close to the coast, from the surf zone to a depth of , and has

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

habits. Reaching in length, the Natal shyshark is similar to the puffadder shyshark in appearance but has a stockier body, less flattened head, a compressed caudal peduncle, and a different color pattern. Rare and under threat from habitat degradation and commercial fishing, it has been assessed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Taxonomy

This species was once considered to be the "Natal" form of the

, which differed from the main "Cape" form in appearance and habitat preferences. In 2006, Brett A. Human and

Leonard J.V. Compagno Leonard Joseph Victor Compagno is an international authority on shark taxonomy and the author of many scientific papers and books on the subject, best known of which is his 1984 catalogue of shark species produced for the Food and Agriculture Organi ...

formally described this shark as a new species, in an article published in the

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...

''Zootaxa''. They named it after South African shark researcher Nat Kistnasamy, the Natal shyshark's original discoverer.

Distribution and habitat

The distribution of the Natal shyshark is restricted to the waters off the

, and possibly also the Western Cape and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Its total range is estimated to encompass an area of under . A

species, it can be found in the surf zone and on shallow rocky reefs. As opposed to the puffadder shyshark, which inhabits deeper, cooler waters in the northeastern parts of its range, in those areas the Natal shyshark occurs in warm inshore waters at a depth of .

Description

The Natal shyshark closely resembles the puffadder shyshark, but has a more robust body, a less flattened head, and a laterally compressed caudal peduncle. The snout is broad and rounded, with very large nostrils and greatly expanded, triangular nasal skin flaps that reach the mouth. There are a pair of deep grooves, covered by the nasal flaps, that run from the excurrent (outflow) openings of the nostrils to the mouth. The mouth has furrows at the corners on both jaws, and contains teeth with 3–5 points. The eyes are large, with a rudimentary

nictitating membrane The nictitating membrane (from Latin '' nictare'', to blink) is a transparent or translucent third eyelid present in some animals that can be drawn across the eye from the medial canthus to protect and moisten it while maintaining vision. All ...

(protective third eyelid) and a prominent ridge beneath. The five gill slits are positioned somewhat dorsally on the body. The dorsal,

pelvic The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

, and

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

s are of roughly equal size. The dorsal fins are placed far back on the body, with the first originating behind the pelvic fin origins and the second originating behind the anal fin origins. The pectoral fins are moderately large. The short and broad caudal fin has a ventral notch on the upper lobe and an indistinct lower lobe. The skin is thick, bearing well- calcified leaf-shaped

dermal denticle A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as we ...

s. The back is brown, with a distinctive pattern of H-shaped, dark brown saddles with well-defined margins, along with numerous small white dots and darker mottling between the saddles. This species attains a length of .

Biology and ecology

The Natal shyshark is rarer than the puffadder shyshark and little is known of its habits. Males are sexually mature at around long, and females at long. The shysharks are so named because they curl into a ring and cover their eyes with their tails when threatened.

Human interactions

The highly restricted range of the Natal shyshark is threatened by habitat degradation from coastal development, particularly in the vicinity of Durban where industrial and tourism sectors have undergone rapid expansion. Furthermore, the region is subject to heavy fishing pressure, in particular from the commercial prawn

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

. Given its localized occurrence and presumably small population, this species has been assessed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1570451 Natal shyshark Marine fish of South Africa Endemic fish of South Africa KwaZulu-Natal Critically endangered fish Critically endangered fauna of Africa Natal shyshark